Himalayan Pantheon

Visitors to Nepal, particularly Westerners, may find the large pantheon of gods and goddesses worshipped in this tiny Himalayan country by Hindus, Buddhists and animists bewildering. This small book is a pocket guide to the predominant religious iconography in the Himalayan kingdom and the temples and festivals associated with them. Some people may be put off by what they consider to be the vast number of idols and bloody sacrifices, while others may be seduced by the exoticism of it all. Without making any cultural value judgments, the present work attempts to identify and explain the chief deities worshipped in Nepal.